


Siren Song

by BrassOctopi



Series: love like an ocean (beautiful and terrifying) [1]
Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Fluff, Human Prince Sidon, M/M, Mute Link (Legend of Zelda), merman link
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-23
Updated: 2019-06-03
Packaged: 2020-03-10 01:28:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,901
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18928537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrassOctopi/pseuds/BrassOctopi
Summary: One day as he's walking along the beach, Prince Sidon happens upon a creature with the most gorgeous eyes, and falls head over heels before he even knows who they are.





	1. Chapter 1

Sidon was made for the sea.

Sure, his titles and regalia might insist otherwise, that he was a prince doomed to a life of papers and courtesy and fancy dinners - all of which he could do quite well, of course, but none of which were particularly interesting, let alone his passion.

The sea, though. The sea had called to him since he was a young boy, trailing after his older sister. Every morning, when the tide had rolled back out, they would walk along the shore, searching in the pools left behind for little fish. Sidon had dutifully carried the bucket full of water, while Mipha scooped up the fish, careful to avoid hurting them, and gently placed them into the bucket. When they had walked as far as they could go, Mipha would take the bucket from him, count the fish they had found, and carried it to the shoreline. Just as carefully as she had rescued the fish, she submerged the bucket before turning it over, letting the fish swim away into the sea again.

“The sea takes care of us, Sidon,” he remembered her saying in that soft voice. “We must be sure to take care of it the same way.”

He remembered those words in his darker moments as well, starting with the news that his beloved sister had been on a ship caught in a storm, swept overboard and lost to the waves. Where was the sea’s care then? Had Mipha been wrong?

But the sea still called to him. It called to him as he learned to read and write, called to him as he practiced rolling melodies on the piano, called to him as he learned the history of his people. And every morning, he dutifully walked with a pail of water, watching as the fish seemed to grow smaller as his body grew larger, until he could pick up the smallest of them in a single cupped hand. He knew the danger of the water, but couldn’t escape its beauty.

It was returning from one of these morning walks, almost at the foot of the cliff where the castle stood, that he heard the sound of laughter. Bright, bubbly, almost childlike; he turned to look behind him, where the sound came from, but found nothing. Perplexed, Sidon shrugged with his typical good cheer and continued heading for the castle. The laughter came again. This time, it seemed to come from farther up the shore, near where the cliff met water. Overcome with curiosity, Sidon set his bucket down, heading over to the water.

“Hello? Is someone out there? I know the water is quite lovely here, but it can be dangerous, especially for a child! If someone’s there, please - ”

He was cut off by the same laughter, but was startled to see that from the spot where it emanated, a face had appeared under the water. He couldn’t see much other than bright blue eyes and golden hair floating about their face. Immediately he feared for their safety, sure that they would run out of air if they stayed under much longer.

“Hold on!” Sidon began rolling up his pants, quickly wading into the water after the stranger. To his surprise, they only pushed their head above water, laughing again as they propelled backwards, eyes fixed on the prince’s. Without the barrier of the water, the laughter was even more entrancing; alarm ebbing away, Sidon followed them, curiosity replacing his fright. The stranger seemed playful, splashing water his way before retreating yet again, smiling brightly at Sidon. He couldn’t help but follow, now up to his waist in water.

He was almost to the point where he would need to start swimming when a sharp voice cut through his thoughts, which were now solely focused on the stranger.

“Your highness!”

The stranger startled, diving below the water again as Sidon gaped. He watched as a dark spot sped along the side of the cliff, disappearing around the curve. Angrily, he turned to the intruder - one of his father’s most trusted advisors, an old man named Muzu.

“Muzu! You’ve gone and frightened them! Now they’re in deeper water. What if they get in trouble?”

Muzu wrinkled his nose. “Unlikely, your highness, as that was no human. You nearly let yourself be seduced by one of the merfolk. If anyone was in trouble, it would be you.”

Sidon glanced back to where the stranger - merfolk? - had disappeared. “They didn’t seem to be so bad. I think they just wanted to play.” A bit of gold reappeared from beyond the bend, and his new friend slowly peeked back out, hands gripping the wet rock. Lifted out of the water as he was now, Sidon could see that he was a young man, lean but muscled, his tanned waist blending down into rich blue scales. Strands of something glittered over his chest, while fabric rode low on where his hips would be on a human. Sidon bit his lip to avoid saying anything and alerting Muzu to his continued presence.

“No merfolk just wants to _play_ ,” Muzu corrected, loathing in his tone. “Merfolk hate humans and would drown them all if they could.” Sidon spared a look to the merman, who rapidly shook his head, eyes wide. “Why one came so close to the land, I would not know; probably some nefarious purpose, bored of terrorizing the open sea. If I have told his majesty once, I have told him a thousand times: we ought to catch and kill any we see, to protect our sailors.”

Sidon’s new friend quailed at this, pulling out of sight. With a barely audible splash, his shadow sped away again, until even that was swallowed up by the waves.

“Muzu!” Sidon snapped again, brows furrowing. “Enough. Why are you here?”

“Have you no idea of the time? You are supposed to meet with visiting nobility in less than an hour! You must hurry to be dressed and ready. Your father will be most displeased if you arrive late - again.”

Sidon sighed, shoulders dropping. In that, at least, Muzu was right, so he followed the old Zora up the steps that lead back to the castle. That night, however, his dreams were plagued with golden hair and spellbinding blue eyes.

 

* * *

 

Every day that followed, Sidon kept an ear out for the telltale laughter that signaled the arrival of his friend, but he was nowhere to be found. Days turned into weeks; weeks turned into months. He had almost given up on seeing the beautiful merman again when he found himself in a secluded cove, a place he had found years ago and visited when the pressures of princehood began to weigh too heavily on his shoulders. He had barely settled onto a roughly hewn bench, eyes drifting shut for a moment, when he heard a light splash followed by bright laughter.

His eyes shot back open, heart leaping into his throat. Despite only hearing it a handful of times, he could recognize that laugh anywhere. Sure enough, after a moment the merman popped above the water, beaming at Sidon. Sidon hurried to the edge of the water, kneeling down as his friend drifted over to him, pushing himself up into the cool evening air. From this closer view, he could see that it was shells cascading over his chest, strand after strand, and the fabric tied around his waist had yet more tied along its length.

“Good evening!” Never let it be said that Sidon forgot his manners. “I was beginning to think you’d been scared off!”

The merman laughed again at this, shaking his head.

“Good, good. Muzu makes quite a ruckus, I know, but he can’t harm you. You have my word.”

The merman tilted his head, looking amused.

“Ah - right, but I should introduce myself. I am Sidon, prince of the Zora kingdom!”

The merman made a sweeping bow that almost dunked his face back in the water before grinning up at him again, but made no move to give his own name.

“And you are…?” Sidon gently pressed. The merman had yet to say a single word. For a moment, he wondered if he had rambled too much, talked when the merman had wanted to speak. But still his friend remained silent, smile sliding into a thoughtful frown. “I’m sorry, have I been rude?”

The merman was quick to shake his head, waving his hands back and forth to reinforce the gesture. He pointed to himself, then hit one index finger with another. This was followed, to Sidon’s growing confusion, by the merman holding up four fingers, tapping his chin with his index.

“I’m - I’m sorry, I don’t understand what that means.”

His friend watched him for a moment, clearly thinking of how to try again. After a moment, he tapped his throat and shook his head.

“You can’t… speak. Is that right?”

The merman nodded, pleased that this time Sidon had understood.

“Oh! My dear friend, I am so sorry. And here I’ve been prattling on at you…”

The merman waved his hands again, shaking his head even more rapidly than before. His eyes lit up, and he pointed to himself again, then formed interlocking circles with his hands, tugging them against each other before giving Sidon a hopeful look.

“You - your name? That means your name?”

The merman nodded vigorously, repeating the second sign again. It almost looked as though he were mimicking the chains that were used to haul cargo onto ships.

“Chain?” Sidon ventured, earning an exasperated look. The merman flipped his tail - Sidon felt a thrill as it breached the water, an alluring shade of teal with the same gold as his hair at the tips - and dove into the water, popping back up again after a moment and staring at him, making the sign again. Sidon could practically feel the exaggerated patience the merman had. “Not chain, but…” The merman used one hand to point at the circle his other made before linking them back together. _Hold on_ \- “Link? Is that it?”

Link beamed at him, nodding. Sidon laughed, more out of surprise than anything else.

“Link. Your name is Link. And how would you show my name, then?”

Link pointed at Sidon, eyes flashing in amusement, but didn’t elaborate further. Sidon gave him a playful grimace.

“No, I mean, to others. How would you show my name to others?”

The merman quickly moved through a series of signs with one hand. Sidon blinked. Link laughed, that beautiful, sparkling laugh, and pointed to himself again, then drew a little circle in the air above his forehead.

“You… you’ll think about it?” Link nodded, and Sidon felt quite proud of himself. It seemed he was beginning to understand how his lovely merman talked. He leaned forward, clasping his hands together. He wanted to take Link’s hands in his, but after learning his only way to communicate, it didn’t feel appropriate. “Wonderful! I hope we become good friends this way, Link.”

Link’s laughter echoed off the cove’s walls, and Sidon could feel himself melt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoopsie doodles I'm finally writing again and it's a Little Mermaid AU that no one asked for, sort of. Link is mute throughout, because I'm very fond of mute Link and relate to him. I've got most of a second part written up already, but with how I've been feeling lately, I make no promises about how quickly it will come out, so I made it a standalone fic for the time being. It feels good to be writing again, though.


	2. Chapter 2

Just wanted to add a quick note to everyone who subscribed to this particular fic.

1\. Thank you! Your support means a lot.

2\. I decided to instead write this as a series of one-shots. If you're still interested, I humbly request you subscribe to the series, found [here](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1379827), instead. 


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